Studio Ghibli ([[NoPronunciationGuide pronounced]] "[[AC:djibb]]-[-lee-]")[[note]] sort-of named after the Caproni Ca.309 ''Ghibli'' fighter[[/note]] was founded in 1985 by celebrated Japanese {{anime}} directors Creator/HayaoMiyazaki and Creator/IsaoTakahata, along with producer Toshio Suzuki and publisher Yasuyoshi Tokuma, in the wake of Miyazaki's overwhelming success with ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''. Studio Ghibli is known for its incredibly rich and detailed animation, exacting attention to detail, CrowningMusicOfAwesome (mostly but not entirely by composer Joe Hisaishi), and imaginative plots (frequently involving flying scenes, a personal favourite of Miyazaki's).

Ghibli has been rated as the top brand in Japan, and is a household name even among non-{{otaku}}. New Ghibli films are consistently the top grossers for the year in Japanese cinemas, and some films such as ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' and ''Anime/{{Ponyo|On The Cliff By The Sea}}'' have gained a mainstream following in North America (in part thanks to a distribution deal with Creator/{{Disney}}; more on that below). The studio tends to focus on films rather than television series, but it is frequently the "[[GatewaySeries gateway drug]]" for new {{anime}} fans. Ghibli is also like Disney in that Ghibli maintains their animation staff as full-time employees instead of the typical Japanese practice of employing freelance artists paid on a piecework basis, and Miyazaki has stated that this was intended to improve his animators' standard of living as much as the quality and consistency of their work.

Because of this ethos, though, Ghibli became infamous for its exorbitantly high overhead costs – almost on par with American animation studios.[[note]] Anime, even feature films, typically has a budget of less than half of a Hollywood animated film's.[[/note]] This, plus a few other factors, all led to the Studio's downfall during TheNewTens… which will be explained more fully towards the bottom of this page.

Miyazaki has said that he chose the name of a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Italian fighter for his studio based on his love of aviation and Italy (vis. ''Anime/PorcoRosso''). Unfortunately, the wrong characters were chosen to represent "Ghibli" in Japanese based on a mispronunciation[[note]] (as you can see in their logo at the top of this page, they use the kana 「ジブリ」 – "[[AC:djee]]-blee" – but based on the Italian pronunciation, it should be 「ギブリ」 – "[[AC:ghee]]-blee")[[/note]], and Miyazaki didn't discover this until after he'd already named the studio. He has since proclaimed himself satisfied with the "jiblee" pronunciation even though it's technically wrong.

Several Maserati automobiles and at least one modern fighter plane have also been named "Ghibli", which means "hot wind off the desert". This is actually a Arabic word from Libya – the Italian equivalent is "Scirocco" – and it refers to a particular wind that sweeps across the Sahara.

Trope namer for GhibliHills. Has absolutely nothing to do with the [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner jibblies]].

!!To date, Studio Ghibli has produced the following movies:[[index]]* ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', directed by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki (1984) [[note]](technically, Studio Ghibli didn't exist yet when this movie was made – credit goes to Studio [=TopCraft=] and publisher Tokuma Shoten – however, the team behind it formed Ghibli soon after; ''Nausicaä'' has since been {{retcon}}ned into the Ghibli library and was included as part of the distribution and dubbing deal between Tokuma and Creator/{{Disney}})[[/note]]* ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1986)* ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1988)* ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies'', directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata (1988) [[note]]Based on the short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka[[/note]]* ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1989)[[note]]Loosely based on an illustrated novel by Eiko Kadono[[/note]]* ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'', directed by Isao Takahata (1991) [[note]]Based on the manga by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Toné[[/note]]* ''Anime/PorcoRosso'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1992)[[note]]Based on a manga Miyazaki wrote called "The Age of the Flying Ship"[[/note]]* ''Anime/OceanWaves'', directed by Tomomi Mochizuki (1993) – Ghibli's only MadeForTVMovie* ''Anime/PomPoko'', directed by Isao Takahata (1994)* ''Anime/WhisperOfTheHeart'', directed by Yoshifumi Kondo (1995) [[note]]Based on a short manga by Aoi Hiiraga[[/note]]* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1997)* ''Anime/MyNeighborsTheYamadas'', directed by Isao Takahata (1999) [[note]]Based on a YonKoma by Hisaichi Ishii[[/note]]* ''Anime/SpiritedAway'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2001)* ''Anime/TheCatReturns'', directed by Hiroyuki Morita (2002) [[note]]Also based on a short manga by Aoi Hiiraga[[/note]]* ''[[Anime/HowlsMovingCastle Howl's Moving Castle]]'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2004) [[note]]Based on the book of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones[[/note]]* ''Anime/TalesFromEarthsea'', directed by Goro Miyazaki (2006) [[note]]Often called by its Japanese name ''Gedo Senki'' by anime fans; [[InNameOnly loosely based on]] the ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' novel series by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin[[/note]]* ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'', directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2008) [[note]]An InNameOnly adaptation of Creator/HansChristianAndersen's ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''[[/note]]* ''Anime/{{Arrietty}}'', directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (2010) [[note]]Based on Mary Norton's ''Literature/TheBorrowers''; also called "The Secret World of Arrietty" in North America[[/note]]* ''Anime/FromUpOnPoppyHill'', directed by Goro Miyazaki (2011)[[note]]Based on the manga "Kokuriko-zaka kara" by Tetsuo Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi[[/note]]* ''Anime/TheWindRises'' directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2013) [[note]]Based on a manga he made during the 2000s about the creator of a Japanese fighter plane during WWII[[/note]]* ''Anime/TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya'', directed by Isao Takahata (2013) [[note]]Based the Japanese folk tale, "The Legend of the Bamboo Cutter"[[/note]]* ''Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere'', directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (2014) [[note]]Based on the novel by Joan G. Robinson[[/note]][[/index]]* ''WesternAnimation/TheRedTurtle'', directed by Michael Dudok de Wit (2016) [[note]]Co-production with European studio Wild Bunch. Isao Takahata was the Artistic Producer.[[/note]]----

Like many other Asian studios, they have also worked on productions as a support studio through their C-unit (Miyazaki runs the A-unit and Takahata runs the B-unit; the C-unit is random):

They also allegedly helped with the artwork for ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc''.----

The studio has its own [[http://atlasobscura.com/places/ghibli-museum museum]] that shows exclusive short films. The short that evolved into ''Anime/{{Ponyo|On The Cliff By The Sea}}'' was first shown here. It also distributes Western animated films in Japan such as the works of Michel Ocelot, Sylvan Chomet, and Aardman under the "Ghibli Museum Library" label.

Studio Ghibli is well-known among anime fans for maintaining a ''very'' strict anti-editing policy when they license their films for international distribution – although they have no problem with foreign companies translating credits or dubbing dialogue and insert songs (in fact they encourage it because they value accessibility), they do not allow even one single frame of animation to be altered or edited out. This is due to the ''Warriors of the Wind'' fiasco, when an American video company heavily censored ''Manga/{{Nausica|aOfTheValleyOfTheWind}}ä'' behind Miyazaki's back (more information about that can be found on the film's page). It became an issue after Creator/{{Disney}} negotiated a deal with Tokuma Shoten in 1996 that allowed Disney to distribute all but one of Ghibli's feature films.[[note]] ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies'' is the odd one out; it had already been licensed to Creator/CentralParkMedia… and given its [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII subject]] [[TearJerker matter]], Disney probably didn't want it anyway. It was eventually licensed to Creator/SentaiFilmworks in the early 2010s.[[/note]] They handed localization of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' off to Creator/{{Miramax|Films}}. [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]] immediately tried to pull an ''[[WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler Arabian Night]]'' on ''Mononoke'' in hopes of getting the movie re-rated PG. In response, Suzuki ([[UrbanLegend allegedly]]) sent him an authentic katana, attached to which was a note: [[IncrediblyLamePun "No cuts!"]]. On the one hand, this policy has allowed North America (where companies are notorious for censoring foreign things) to see these movies as they were meant to be seen; on the other hand, ''Mononoke'''s PG-13 rating almost certainly led to its being a BoxOfficeBomb and to Disney's subsequent refusal to allow ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'' any release at all. Still, Disney has for the most part done rather well by the rest of Ghibli's catalogue, which are often the top-selling anime in North America for any given year due to the studio's mainstream credibility.

Unfortunately, despite all the critical acclaim, by the late-2000s it was clear that all was not well at Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki's infamous workaholic and control freak tendencies meant that the studio had not adequately fostered new directorial talent capable of taking over once he and Takahata finally retired. Indeed, the studio did not do so until it was absolutely unavoidable. Miyazaki ''did'' actually choose his successor back in the 90's; unfortunately for him, it was Yoshifumi Kondo (director of ''Whisper of the Heart''), who sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 1998 after suffering a brain hemorrhage[[note]]It's rumored that Kondo's fatal hemorrhage was the result of him trying and failing to match Miyazaki's insane perfectionism[[/note]]. Hayao's son Goro's 2006 directorial debut ''Tales From Earthsea'' received mixed reviews and the studio did not consider it a success. Producer Toshio Suzuki's decision to tap the younger Miyazaki to direct ''Earthsea'' caused a rift between the two Miyazakis, as Hayao believed that Goro was not ready to direct a film[[note]] (he kinda had a point, considering that Goro was trained as an architect, not an animator)[[/note]], a belief that the film's lackluster performance appeared to confirm. However, the elder Miyazaki's opinion of the finished film, "It was made honestly, so it was good", did much to repair their relationship, as Japanese culture considers sincerity more praiseworthy than success. Miyazaki seems to have ''finally'' found his successor in Hiromasa Yonebayashi, director of ''Arrietty''. In addition, Goro's second movie, ''From Up On Poppy Hill'', won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year, which has likely secured him a place as another worthy successor to his father.

But even finding new directors was not enough to stop Ghibli's financial troubles. The worldwide economic collapse of the late-2000s meant Ghibli could no longer depend on Western sales to cover its meager domestic profits – which alone were barely enough to cover its aforementioned absurdly high operating costs. Toshio Suzuki ominously intoned in 2010 that Ghibli would shut down if ''Arrietty'' did not sell enough at the box office to secure financial backing for another film. As it turned out, ''Arrietty'' '''did''' do well enough (80% of ''Ponyo'''s sales) to ensure funding for ''Up On Poppy Hill'', which became the highest-grossing Japanese film for 2011. However, the studio ended up taking a loss on ''Princess Kaguya'' – unsurprising given Takahata's chronic inability to complete anything on time or within budget – and profits for ''Marnie'' and ''The Wind Rises'' were middling at best, putting the studio's future in question.

In early 2014, Miyazaki, Takahata, and Suzuki all announced their retirements – and Miyazaki, long infamous for [[TenMinuteRetirement flip-flopping on this subject]], appeared to mean it at the time.[[note]]He continued to work on short films during this period.[[/note]] On August 3rd, Suzuki stated that Studio Ghibli would take a break from feature film animation while they undergo restructuring and figure out where/how to continue the company in the future. Since then, Yonebayashi has left the studio and joined Studio Ponoc to direct and co-screenwrite Studio Ponoc's first movie ''Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower'', and Goro has directed ''Anime/RonjaTheRobbersDaughter'' as a TV co-production with Polygon Pictures.

New hope for the studio has been garnered when, in very late 2015, it was announced that Ghibli would be providing some of the animation for ''WesternAnimation/TheRedTurtle'', which was released September of 2016 in Japan. The film is notable for being a co-production between Ghibli and the European studio Wild Bunch. In late 2016, Miyazaki gave hints that he was un-retiring for one more feature film, which was confirmed early in 2017.

In July 2017, GKIDS, which owns the theatrical distribution rights to the Ghibli films, acquired the home media rights to the rest of Ghibli's catalog in North America, taking those licensed by Disney with it. GKIDS previously distributed ''From Up on Poppy Hill'' through Cinedigm, as well as ''The Tale of Princess Kaguya'', ''When Marnie Was There'', ''Ocean Waves'', and ''Only Yesterday'' through Creator/{{Universal}}.

!! Studio Ghibli and its works provide examples of:

* CareerResurrection: ''The Red Turtle'' was one of the first critically-acclaimed films by Ghibli after their restructuring resulting from the failures of ''When Marnie Was There'' and ''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya''.* CelebrityVoiceActor: ** Beginning in 1997 with ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', every last one of their films has an AllStarCast of veteran Japanese actors for their main characters, some of those including popular singers and stage actors. Even before then, Ghibli has used celebrities to voice supporting and main characters, such as Shigesato Itoi who voices Satsuki and Mei's father in ''Totoro'' and Issei Takahashi, who voices Seiji Amasawa in ''Whisper of the Heart''.** In their English dubs produced by Disney and GKIDS, they have a mix of professional voice actors as well as celebrities who don't normally do voice acting.* ChannelHop:** ''Castle in the Sky'' was distributed by Toei and ''Totoro'' was distributed by Toho. When ''Kiki's Delivery Service'', Toei distributed the film once again. Beginning with ''Only Yesterday'', all of Ghibli's films would be distributed by Toho, which eventually served as one of the members of Ghibli's film production committes beginning with ''The Cat Returns''. To this day, all of the Ghibli films in Japan have been distributed by Toho in their theatrical releases.** The North American releases have a long history:*** ''NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'' was licensed first by New World Pictures and released it as the infamous ''Warriors of the Wind''.*** ''My Neighbor Totoro'', ''Castle in the Sky'', ''Porco Rosso'', and ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' was dubbed into English for screenings on Japan Airlines. Of these, ''Totoro'' was released in North America on VHS by Troma and 20th Century Fox.*** For ''Grave of the Fireflies'', it was licensed first by Creator/CentralParkMedia and later by Creator/ADVFilms, who then restructered into Creator/SentaiFilmworks, who released a Blu-Ray with their own dub in addition to the original CPM dub. To this day, Sentai still retains the rights since the film isn't represented by Studio Ghibli.*** When Disney signed a deal with Tokuma in 1996, they acquired all of their films and redubbed all the films with an AllStarCast for future distribution of their works.*** In the early 2010s, GKIDS decided to take up home video and theatrical rights to ''From Up on Poppy Hill'', ''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'', ''When Marnie Was There'', ''Only Yesterday'', and ''Ocean Waves'', as well as the theatrical rights to all of the remaining Ghibli films. Then, by July 2017, GKIDS acquired home video distribution rights for the entire film catalog previously released from Disney. Thus, GKIDS owns the theatrical, television and home video rights to every Ghibli film, with the exception of ''Grave of the Fireflies'' and ''The Wind Rises'', which will be respectively retained by Sentai Filmworks and Disney.* CreatorKiller: The failures of both ''Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere'' and ''Anime/TheTaleOfPrincessKaguya'' caused the studio to restructure itself.* NoExportForYou: Until Disney negotiated a deal with Ghibli's former owner Tokuma Shoten in 1996, any attempt to watch a Ghibli film in North America aside from ''Totoro'' was impossible.* ProductionPosse: A lot of Ghibli's staff members are long-time employees, including Toshio Suzuki, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yoshifumi Kondo, Masashi Ando, Yoshiaki Nishimura, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi.* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason GKIDS has yet to license ''The Wind Rises''. Even after the purchase of the Ghibli catalog, Disney and Touchstone technically owns the rights to the film.* ScrewedByTheNetwork: After GKIDS acquired the license to the whole Ghibli film catalog, they confirmed that they would not release digital copies of their films. This is a result of Studio Ghibli's own ExecutiveMeddling, since even Disney couldn't do it back when they had most of those licenses.* StartMyOwn: Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki organized Studio Ghibli after Miyazaki and Takahata finished work on the film adaptation of ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''.